Undergraduate College

MKTG-UB.0002.001 (C55.0002): CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Spring 2013

Instructor Details

Meyvis, Tom

Course Meetings

Meeting time(s):MW, 11:00am to 12:15pm

Location:KMC 4-120

Additional Information:

Final Exam:

Schedule exceptions
Class will not meet on:
Class will meet on:

Course Description and Learning Goals

We are all consumers. We buy groceries, computers, and cars. We purchase services ranging from bank accounts to college educations. However, we also differ from each other. We buy different clothes, drive different cars, and eat at different restaurants. Even the same consumer can make different decisions depending on the situation. So how are we to construct coherent marketing strategies?

In this class we will try to learn why consumers behave the way that they do. We will explore our intuitions about our own behavior, learn about theories developed in marketing, psychology, and sociology, and use these theories to predict how consumers will respond to marketing actions.

Other Articles & Exercises

Additional exercises, journal articles, and recent news from the popular business press will be provided throughout the semester. The journal articles will provide you with a deeper insight into selected topics and methods of consumer behavior research. The business news articles are used to illustrate the conceptual framework with current real-world marketing problems. The articles will be posted on the class website.

Course Website

Class Notes

The PowerPoint slides for each class will be available for downloading from the website and will also be handed out at the start of class. Note, however, that these slides only present an outline of the class discussion. You will still need to take additional notes to fully capture the material discussed in class.

Additional Literature

A special section on the class website will list optional additional readings as well as useful links to resources for the team project.

Assessment Components

Your evaluation will be based on 2 exams, 8 case study preparations, a group project, and your class participation:

Midterm Exam: 25%

Final Exam: 25%

Group Project: 20%

Case Preparations: 16%

Class Participation: 14%

Midterm Exam 25%

The midterm exam will be based on the lectures, class discussions, assigned readings, and case assignments. The exam will primarily consist of short essay questions. The midterm exam is optional. There will be no makeup exam. If you don’t take the midterm exam, the final exam will be cumulative and count for 50% of your course grade.

Final Exam 25%

The final exam is not cumulative, unless you’ve not taken the midterm exam (in which case it is cumulative and counts for 50% of your course grade). The exam will primarily consist of short essay questions. Students who do not attend the final exam and who do not have a prior agreement with me will receive a zero for the exam grade.

Group Project 20%

A significant part of your course grade will be determined by a team project. The objective of this team project is to examine consumers’ reaction to a new company initiative. You can find more information on the group project in the separate handout.

Case Preparations 16%

You will be asked to prepare 9 cases for class discussion. To make sure that you have read and thought about the cases in advance, I will ask everyone to upload a 1-2 page preparation sheet on Blackboard by 8 pm the day before we discuss the case in class. Your eight best case preps will each contribute 2.5% towards your final grade. For more information on the case preparations, please see the separate handout.

Class Participation 14%

I expect that you all realize the importance of attending the classes. Attending classes is not optional. Not only will it increase your understanding of the assigned readings, but we will also be addressing many issues that are not covered in the readings. It will also give you the opportunity to actively participate in class discussions and obtain a better class participation grade. Your mere presence is not sufficient. What matters more is the quantity and, especially, the quality of your contributions to class discussions.

Grading

Grades will be assigned partly on a relative basis and partly on an absolute basis

Based on previous classes, students can roughly expect the following grade distribution:

35% of students can expect to receive A’s for excellent work

50% of students can expect to receive B’s for good or very good work

15% of students can expect to receive C’s or less for adequate or below work

That being said, I would be delighted to give everyone an A if everyone's performance is excellect (and less delighted to give no A's if nobody meets that threshold).

Re-Grading

The process of assigning grades is intended to be one of unbiased evaluation. Students are encouraged to respect the integrity and authority of the professor’s grading system and are discouraged from pursuing arbitrary challenges to it.

If you believe an inadvertent error has been made in the grading of an individual assignment or in assessing an overall course grade, a request to have the grade re-evaluated may be submitted. You must submit such requests in writing to me within 7 days of receiving the grade, including a brief written statement of why you believe that an error in grading has been made.

Professional Responsibilities For This Course

Be prepared: Make sure that you have carefully read the assigned cases and articles.

Attend all classes: I expect everyone to attend all classes. Aside from being an essential part of the learning experience, regular attendance is an obvious prerequisite for contributing to class discussions and receiving a grade for class participation. Please also note that you are responsible for knowing any changes or assignments announced in class.

Arrive on time: Late-comers disturb the class. Systematic tardiness will have a negative impact on your class participation grade.

Respect assignment deadlines: Late assignments will not be accepted without a prior agreement.

Be honest: Cheating and plagiarism will result in a grade of “F” for the assignment/test for all parties involved. All students are expected to follow the Stern Code of Conduct (see below).

Laptops and cell phones are a disturbance to your fellow students as well as the instructor. All electronic devices must be turned off prior to the start of class. This implies:

You cannot use your laptop in class.

Phones must be turned off – not put on silent or vibrate.

Stern Policies

General Behavior
The School expects that students will conduct themselves with respect and professionalism toward faculty, students, and others present in class and will follow the rules laid down by the instructor for classroom behavior. Students who fail to do so may be asked to leave the classroom.

Collaboration on Graded Assignments
Students may not work together on graded assignment unless the instructor gives express permission.

Course Evaluations
Course evaluations are important to us and to students who come after you. Please complete them thoughtfully.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is critical to the learning process and to all that we do here at NYU Stern. As members of our community, all students agree to abide by the NYU Stern Student Code of Conduct, which includes a commitment to:

Exercise integrity in all aspects of one's academic work including, but not limited to, the preparation and completion of exams, papers and all other course requirements by not engaging in any method or means that provides an unfair advantage.

Clearly acknowledge the work and efforts of others when submitting written work as one’s own. Ideas, data, direct quotations (which should be designated with quotation marks), paraphrasing, creative expression, or any other incorporation of the work of others should be fully referenced.

Refrain from behaving in ways that knowingly support, assist, or in any way attempt to enable another person to engage in any violation of the Code of Conduct. Our support also includes reporting any observed violations of this Code of Conduct or other School and University policies that are deemed to adversely affect the NYU Stern community.

The entire Stern Student Code of Conduct applies to all students enrolled in Stern courses and can be found here:

To help ensure the integrity of our learning community, prose assignments you submit to Blackboard will be submitted to Turnitin. Turnitin will compare your submission to a database of prior submissions to Turnitin, current and archived Web pages, periodicals, journals, and publications. Additionally, your document will become part of the Turnitin database.

Recording of Classes

Your class may be recorded for educational purposes

Students with Disabilities

If you have a qualified disability and will require academic accommodation of any kind during this course, you must notify me at the beginning of the course and provide a letter from the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD, 998-4980, www.nyu.edu/csd) verifying your registration and outlining the accommodations they recommend. If you will need to take an exam at the CSD, you must submit a completed Exam Accommodations Form to them at least one week prior to the scheduled exam time to be guaranteed accommodation.